ABSTRACT
On the Genealogy of Morality, which is one of the most important of Nietzsche’s works, is the closest in style to a conventional philosophical treatise, at least at first glance. In other books, such as Thus Spake Zarathustra, Nietzsche resorted to aphorisms: short, pithy remarks which force the reader to pause and reflect, and which demand a special kind of reading. On the Genealogy of Morality, in contrast, consists of three essays, each on a related theme. The central theme is the origins of morality: the literal translation of the book’s title is On the Genealogy of Morality, though it has sometimes been translated as On the Genealogy of Morals. The implicit argument is that the moral concepts we have inherited from a Christian tradition are now obsolete and inferior to their pagan predecessors. Nietzsche had declared the death of God in his earlier book, The Gay Science : ‘God is dead; but given the way of men, there may still be caves for thousands of years in which his shadow will be shown’ (Gay Science, section 108). On the Genealogy of Morality is in part a working out of the implications of the absence of any God and the consequences for morality. We have inherited outmoded moral concepts based on Christianity’s false beliefs. Laying bare the origins of these concepts in bitter resentful emotions, Nietzsche seems to
the text: most of the book is devoted to an analysis of the origins, both psychological and historical, of several key moral concepts.
